Although babies have many wonderful attributes, they also produce substantial quantities of waste products, especially urine and feces. These waste products are (hopefully) deposited in diapers that must then be changed by a caretaker. While caretakers typically view changing diapers as a distasteful but necessary task, many babies apparently view the process as unduly time-consuming and boring. Thus, while caretakers prefer babies to remain compliant and quiescent during diaper changes, many babies prefer to cry, squirm, attempt to crawl away and grab nearby objects in an apparent pursuit of more stimulating or less uncomfortable activities. As a result, changing time is often more difficult, messy and time-consuming than might otherwise be hoped.
There are, not surprisingly, a plethora of inventions that address the problems in the routine of changing a baby's diapers. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,161,270 and 4,712,258 describe a partition or restraining straps for controlling a baby during diaper changes, U.S. Pat. No. 3,721,434 describes an infant changing board, U.S. Pat. No. 4,965,896 describes a changing table that unfolds from a wall, and U.S. Design Pat. Nos. 313,516 and 375,419 show a baby changing table that incorporates drawers. Other patents do not address the problem of baby changing as such, but address the problem of portability of changing apparatus. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,299,336 describes a portable baby changing table, U.S. Pat. No. 5,234,224 describes a baby carriage that converts into a changing table, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,792,024 describes a changing caddy including a removable changing pad.